Stargates and Relays
by stevebond1990
Summary: The Tau'ri learned they weren't alone early into their explorations through the Stargate. But they had no idea just how different their lost cousins are. After a raid gone wrong, an adopted Tau'ri finds himself in this strange corner of the Galaxy.
1. Lost Tau'ri

Stargates and Relays

Prologue: Lost Tau'ri

"We're Leaving, Now!"

Emrys glanced at the Colonel over his shoulder, then fired on a Jaffa as he headed backed down a side corridor.

"Emrys!" O'Neill bellowed, "Get the Hell over here, We're Leavin'!"

"No!" Emrys corrected, "You're leaving! I'll draw them off, buy you time to get out!"

Emrys glanced over and saw the Colonel about to argue, "Shut up and Go! There's No Time! I'll catch a ride from the hangar!"

"Everybody Move!" O'Neill shouted, "Emrys, Good Luck!"

The revived Ancient just nodded and fired at the approaching Jaffa, ducking back as a volley of plasma passed close to his head, he held his L1a1 in one hand and fired while trying to pull a grenade off his vest, pulling the pin and tossing it round the corner.

He looked back after the explosion to see a dozen Jaffa dead and another patrol coming from behind, staring at the bodies then shouting and aiming at him.

"_Wyatt, time to get out of Tombstone,'_ he thought, breaking into a run, heading in the opposite direction to everyone else, dropping another grenade as he went.

The Prime arrived just in time to see the second grenade claim several of his men.

"Jaffa! Kree!"

* * *

"Daniel! Dial Home, Fast!"

Daniel didn't need telling twice, as SG-1 and SG-7 took position around him, he tapped in the coordinates for Cimmeria after making sure someone put a smoke grenade between him and the Jaffa.

The Stargate roared into life, just as the Jaffa got close enough to fire, Captain Cousland sent his team through first.

Daniel came up to Jack, "What about Emrys?"

"He's a big boy, Daniel," Jack snarked, though not quite successful in hiding his own concern, "He can look after himself!" Jack looked round to Carter and Teal'c, "Let's move!"

Carter was the first into the Gate, followed by Daniel. Teal'c stayed to one side until Jack started running, then stepped through, followed by Jack.

* * *

The Halls were surprisingly empty, I silently thanked whatever God was listening, and SG-1 hadn't yet killed, for that fact.

In fact, it looked like I'd be able to reach the Hangar unchallenged.

I arrived a few minutes later to discover that Apophis designed his Summer Palace's differently to other Goa'uld, who modelled theirs after the architectural style of Apophis' rival Ra, I was in his private Hangar, not one of the Military ones.

I glanced around then started running for a mid-sized craft with a flat wedge shaped hull with a small pyramid point at the rear, there was also a spherical bulge underneath, slightly aft of a recessed ring, that resembled a B-17 or B-24's ball turret when retracted, I got to the ramp unhindered and made it inside long before the Jaffa reached the Hangar, as I reached the top the Ramp retracted.

Lights turned on as the ramp locked in place, at first showing bare gunmetal walls but giving way to gold and platinum panelling, Teal'c had told me there ought to be small barracks were a rather decadent Egyptian style bedroom and a small medical bay, the hold was loaded with cargo crates of food, water, Naquadah of two different grades, gold, silver, platinum, weapons and several Goa'uld hand devices and bracers, one of each I snapped up, then continued my search, finding the ship empty except for what looked suspiciously like Tollan clothes in the wardrobe, both male and female.

I stepped onto the bridge and sat behind the controls, noting the Jaffa searching the Hangar but avoiding this craft, I run over the instructions Teal'c gave in an orientation class in my head, checking off each system I could recognise as stealthily as I could, noting at least three systems that didn't match Teal'c's detailed descriptions.

I waited until most of the Jaffa had left before starting the engines.

* * *

The Prime was about to leave with all but two sentries when the engines of his Master's Personal Al'kesh roared into life and the craft began to lift off.

"Jaffa Krenol!"

The Jaffa levelled their staffs and fired, the infantry grade weapons making little impact on the armoured hull as the large craft reach the hangar door a larger, emplaced cannon fired from below, striking the hull once just forward of the engines before the shields snapped into place and the belly turret deployed and fired, destroying the manned emplacement and the other unmanned guns.

The Prime grit is teeth in anger as the craft escaped, then composed himself stoically and went to report his failure.

His God would not be pleased.

* * *

"Shields… structural integrity… Hyperdrive," I tapped the console as a warning light flashed on and off three times, then stayed off after I tapped it, "…check," I finished uncertainly, then I turned to inputting a destination in the Nav computer, interestingly the Goa'uld used a simple, two level six-point system like the Stargates, the first set of coordinates seemed to be the same as those used on the Stargate, the second set seemed to be defined by points within the previous 3-D 'box', I input the coordinates for a planet coreward of Earth but uninhabited that had a Stargate and waited.

Once I reached orbit, I checked the coordinates, orientated the ship, then activated the Hyperdrive.

All hell broke loose.

The Warning light came up, an alarm sounding and the ship shook as the Hyperspace window opened, energy coursed through the console in front of me as the ship accelerated, arcing up my arms as the nose passed the threshold, the last thing I was aware of was my back hitting the deck, then darkness.

* * *

I don't know how long it was before I woke, but I was immediately glad for the medical bay as both my arms, my chest and my right cheek screamed in pain.

I forced myself upright and examined the cockpit.

The port consoles were trashed either outright destroyed or badly burned, with the chair I previously occupied badly scorched. The starboard consoles however were very much intact. I dragged myself into the starboard pilot's seat and checked the console, the blood left my cheeks.

If I was reading this right, and I really needed to become fluent in Goa'uld soon, then the cannon shot that hit the hull had damaged one of the power relays, making the Hyperdrive effectively short circuit and over charging it. The coordinates had been reset to a planet on the far side of the galactic core and I couldn't abort as the port console was the master control and had basically locked out the starboard console, if I wanted to be able to fly the ship I needed to completely rebuild the port console, and considering it would take five months to reach my destination, assuming nothing else went wrong, I'd have plenty of time. And I'd be able to study Goa'uld until I was fluent.

But first, I really needed to reach that med bay.


	2. Twilight Bekens

Chapter 1: Twilight Bekens

I was awoken by an alarm, after checking the jury rigged clock next to my bed, I realised it was the proximity alarm…

The Hyperspace proximity alarm.

I climb out of bed and head to the cockpit, not bothering to wash or change as it could mean the ship flew into a planet or star.

I sat down and checked the reading on the rebuilt, and redesigned, port console. The ship was now four lightyears out from the destination, even after replacing the port console with something more Tau'ri friendly I couldn't alter course until now.

Which I immediately did when I saw the ship would drop out of Hyperspace straight into the side of a small moon, I also took advantage of the computer resetting to cut velocity which would allow me time to have a shit, shave and shower before the ship dropped out.

Once the ship started to slow, I headed back to my quarters to do exactly that.

* * *

The brunette glanced around nervously, now was her chance, but if she failed…

'No, I _can't_ think like that,' she mentally berated herself, carefully picking the lock with the Omni-tool Niket got her, not as good as the ones supplied by _Him_, but it wouldn't instantly be traced to her, 'I _Must_ succeed, or she'll suffer the same life as _me_… I can't… no, I _Won't_ allow that.'

The door opened and the brunette stepped through, activating a jammer in her pocket to spoof the room's sensors.

And there she was the tiny being that was the heart of this whole mess, her 'new born' sister, and her replacement.

She was hesitant to pick up the baby, their father probably had a pressure sensor under the mattress, but knew she had come too far to back out now, she picked up her sister and turned to leave, sighing in relief as she saw none of her father's security had approached.

She kept glancing around as she made her way to the garden, this was the riskiest part of the plan after collecting her sister, if she was caught before she reached the fence it was over, she'd never get another chance… assuming her father let her live.

* * *

"A pleasure doing business, Sir," I nodded respectfully to the Bank Manager and rose to leave, feeling like I needed a shower.

The Al'kesh had dropped out of Hyperspace behind the moon; fortunately screening it from the observatory satellites that had spotted the Hyperspace Window, activating the cloak had allowed me to approach unseen. I'd somehow ended up in the Serpent Nebula, a little over two thirds of the way between the Eagle Nebula and Tau'ri but a few hundred Light years coreward, the planet in question was called Bekenstein and it was inhabited by Humans from a planet named Erthe and run on behalf of the Systems Alliance, the overall Governing and Military body of the Erthe humans. The planet in question was heavily industrialised, primarily focused on Luxury goods for the Alliance and several nearby alien stations and worlds but with a sizable output of colonial supplies like prefab housing, portable power stations and defensive turrets and weapons.

I'd managed to bluff my way into the bank, one of the smaller but more stable establishments that dealt with precious metals and bullion, as having come from a slum on Erthe but finding a sizable haul of bullion on a crashed ship while scavenging on the edge of Terminus space. Coincidentally, the area I claimed to find the wreck actually backed onto Baal's territory fifty lightyears rimward, so I wasn't too worried about anyone snooping. The Accounts Manager had given me an appraising look and told me flat that I'd need to register as a citizen first and told me to return once I had.

Two hours later, I was back in the man's office carefully reading the appropriate paperwork, the terms weren't the most favourable but it was definitely better than I could expect at the largest Bank on the planet, who'd have screwed me right over due to being from the slums, I arranged for a pickup with the Manager and for conversion to begin once I was done. Though I was a little surprised at how little value was taken off due to the ingots being cast into sand moulds as opposed to the higher quality ones available.

I found the driver waiting out front with the equivalent to a three tonner. Good, there was about a ton each of silver, gold and platinum and I was cashing it all in, good thing I actually landed on a smaller landing strip outside the city rather than the main spaceport.

"Mr Emrys?"

"That's me," I replied, walking up to the man, "ready to go, or are we waiting for an escort?"

"A small Police escort," the driver, Byrne, replied, looking down the road towards the local Precinct, where we could just make out around two dozen officers climbing into squad cars, "Shouldn't be long. You riding in the truck?"

"Yeah," I replied as the squad cars started towards us, "not that I don't think you're anything but an honest professional, just… well, the Manager gave me the creeps," I said honestly.

Rather than being offended, the man nodded understandingly, "I know what you mean, I've worked here for fifteen years and he's had the same effect on me since he arrived eight years ago."

The Police cars pulled up behind the truck and a Lieutenant got out, heading over to us, "Mr Emrys?"

"That's me, Officer," I said, taking in the style of the uniform, 22nd century NYPD.

"Lieutenant Harris, we're to escort you to your ship then back to the Bank," Harris informed me.

"Thank you, I'll be riding with the truck, will you or one of your Officers be joining me? The cab seems to seat four," I said.

"It does," Byrne assured.

"Yes, I think I will," Harris said thoughtfully, "Mind if I bring one of the rookies?"

"Go ahead, they're your people," I said, glancing to Byrne who nodded.

A minute later he came back with a pretty blonde of slender build and judging by her age only a year at most out of the Academy.

"So, where are we heading?" Byrne asked as we climbed into the truck.

"Hickam Field, considering I didn't have Alliance ID until a few hours ago I figured it was best to avoid the Main Strip," I answered, belting myself in.

"Why did you want to avoid the spaceport? And how were you able to" the blonde asked curiously, blushing embarrassedly when Harris shot her a look.

"Without ID can you imagine how Customs would have responded?" I replied, "as for how, the Main Spaceport often pushes craft below a certain tonnage onto the smaller strips."

The blonde looked to Harris in surprise and was shocked when he nodded to confirm it was true.

"How did you recover so much treasure?" Harris asked carefully.

"I found the ship derelict," I replied, stretching the truth but not by much, "it was out of fuel and consequently the three man crew starved. Once I boarded and found the crew dead, I transferred everything from the junker I had at the time to the larger vessel once I found the reactor could run on Helium three. I didn't actually find the cargo hold until I was on my way back here, figured it best to cash it in."

Harris gave me a curious look but said nothing.

* * *

"Is that your ship?" I gave the cadet an amused look when we eventually arrived, noting the same curiosity from both Byrne and Harris but more restrained.

"Yes, an Al'kesh medium bomber and troop transport, if what I translated from the logs is right, seems they're often repurposed as personal transports," I informed her as Byrne pulled up next to the ship.

"What race built it?" Harris asked as we got out.

"Not sure of their history, but they're called Goa'uld, which literally means God," I said, glancing around at the other Officers then stepping under the ship.

"Pretentious much," Harris scoffed.

"I won't argue that, but prepare for some surprises, the tech on this ship is quite unusual," I warned, stopping just short of the ventral ring platform.

"What do you mean?" the cadet asked.

"Non-eezo FTL and point-to-point Matter Transporters for a start," I said then pointed at the ring on the underside of the ship, "this is one of those transporters, when I activate it a set of rings will lower from the hull and hover at a certain height at a certain distance from the next ring above or below. They will then activate with a flash of light and anyone or anything encompassed by the rings will be sent to a second set in the hold where they will be rematerialized, and vice versa for leaving again. This is how the cargo will be brought off the ship, it will then need to be loaded into the truck. Now, I've tested it and it's safe for Omni-tools but I'd advise leaving anything else in your cars or stay outside."

Most of the Officers looked dubious, or in the case of a trio leaning on their car like I was bullshitting them, but Byrne and Harris were looking intrigued.

"Any chance we could get a set?" Harris asked, "They'd be useful for the Secure Transfer of High Security prisoners."

"Sorry, but this pair are the only ones I know of, and ripping them out would probably disable them," I knew that Rings were pretty resilient but I didn't actually know how they worked, they'd been phased out in favour of booth and platform transporters shortly before Atlantis reached Pegasus.

Harris looked disappointed but nodded, "you can have a couple of your people scan them if you wish," I suggested, grinning a bit as he barked out orders.

"Are you sure it's safe?"

I smiled at the blonde, "yes, now step closer or the ring will hit your head," I held back a laugh as she scampered next to me, her face was priceless when I activated the rings and in a flash we were both in the hold, "let's get started."

* * *

"Where'd she go?"

"She can't have gotten far; our scanners are still being scrambled. Spread Out, Find The Girl."

She hurried as fast as she could without giving herself away down a side alley near Hickam Field, if she was lucky she might be able to beg a lift off-world. She could pay, but her father was likely watching her account for any transactions, seeing as he hadn't yet drained it.

She'd managed to not only cross the garden unseen, but get through the hole in the wire as well, unfortunately she was seen running away from the fence, ten minutes later his guards were out in force.

So far she'd managed to avoid them, but they kept pace with her, which meant they started to close in as she approached the Landing Field.

Just as the Landing strip came into view at the end of the alley, her instincts screamed at her. It was only her incredible reflexes that saved her, a Biotic Barrier snapping into place a split second before two bullets ricocheted off of it.

"There She Is!"

* * *

I was walking back along the perimeter of the Landing Field, having completed my business in town, when I heard two shots ring out from a side alley, a few hundred yards away. I immediately drew my Zat and crouched down. As I watched, two men in Private Security uniforms, which I recognised as one of the outfits I'd been warned to avoid by the Manager and Lieutenant Harris, suddenly floated upwards to around tree top level, one righted himself enough to fire a pistol, an M-3 if I remembered right, and fired three shots. A biotic orb left the alley and slammed into the man, tearing him apart. The second failed to right himself before the Biotic power suspending him failed, sending him head first into a fifty foot drop into a storm drain.

I grimaced as the man screamed then fell silent with a nasty crunch, I crouch-ran to the end of the alley and peered around the edge.

A teenage girl was lying on the ground, her arm wrapped around a small bundle; she was projecting a Biotic barrier that, judging by the thin, long gouges in the ground, had just been tested under fire. As I watched, two more Security Guards rounded the corner from the far end; they looked around briefly, then fired at the teenager as the saw the remains of their former colleague.

The girl shifted after the first few shots to cover the bundle with her body, the bundle also shifted… a small, pale head with wispy brown hair.

'_A baby? Bastards!'_ I leaned out just as the girl's barrier failed, activated my Zat and fired.

The first shot was rather comical; the thug was mid step when the shot hit him, making his legs spasm and throw him into the air and onto his back, like something out of a cartoon.

The second thug looked to his colleague then glanced around, not seeing me until I'd fired again, his body seemed to lock up as he was hit, then collapsed after a moment.

I stayed still for a moment just in case there were more, the girl stared at the fallen guards then looked around for the shooter, just as I stepped out.

"You alright?" I called out, walking to her and helping her up once I saw the blood down her right side, "Is the child hurt?"

"No, my sister is fine, fortunately," the girl replied, wincing as pain shot through her side, "I'll be ok."

I looked over her quickly, then went to check the bodies. The first had an omni-tool on an open radio channel with someone demanding an update, an M-6 Carnifex in their hand and an M-5 on their belt, I grabbed all three and checked he was out before heading to his partner.

The second bloke had an M-4 in his hand and what I thought to be an M-358 on his belt, the latter being a highly illegal Magnum pistol, both of which I grabbed then shut off his omni-tool.

"Why did you take that?" the girl asked, indicating the omni-tool on my right arm.

"Open comm channel," I said, "allows us to eavesdrop."

She cocked an eyebrow and gave me a surprised look, "clever, until they decide to switch channels."

"You're assuming they'll realise we're listening in," I countered, "do not underestimate human stupidity, besides they have to figure out which omni-tools compromised first. Now, care to explain the thugs?"

The girl gave me an appraising look, then spoke, "I've run away from my father, these men are hired security."

"And you took your sister?" I asked, keeping an ear on the thug's radio chatter.

She hesitated, I could clearly sense her fear and uncertainty, "She's my genetic twin," she said in a near whisper, "He… he wants the Perfect Daughter, so he raised me… he held me to impossible standards, refused anything but perfection violently and… one day I came home to find him settling my sister in, I realised he believed I am flawed and needs to start again. I realised… he doesn't want a _Daughter_, but…"

"A _Dynasty_," I growled fiercely, I knew all too well that kind of person after fighting the Goa'uld for the six months prior to my accident, I glared down at the two thugs, deciding what to do with them.

The girl was slightly taken aback by me reaction, "I… I knew I had to get her out, I couldn't let an innocent girl go through what I did, I waited for my chance then took it… it seems my father is willing to take extreme measures to get her back."

"Idiots weren't even checking their fire," I muttered and activated my zat. The girl watched in confusion as I fired again on the thug, then her jaw dropped as my second shot disintegrated the body.

"What? … But How?!" she stammered as I repeated with the second thug.

"Zat'nik'tel," I said, "Goa'uld sidearm, one shot stuns, two shots kill, three shots disintegrate."

"My God!" she the hissed in pain and clutched her side, I slid my arm under her sister to steady her.

"You need medical attention," I pointed out, "come on, my ship has a med bay, let's patch you up, and decide where you'll go."

The girl looked up at me then just nodded, following me as I led her onto the field. We stopped briefly halfway to the ship to ditch the hot omni-tool, apparently the rest of those idiots had figured out the four I'd seen had been wiped out and were converging on the Landing Field, but reached the ship soon enough, I decided to use the ramp as I had no idea what would happen if a baby went through the rings.

"This way… Hey! You're bleeding on my deck, come on!" I said, though a little amused at her wide eyed wonder she was indeed still bleeding, she snapped out of her trance and followed me into the med bay.

I pointed to a low bench with a long cushion to lay down the baby, the girl taking the hint, then went to collect both a medical scanner and a healing device, laying down my collected weapons in a box on a shelf, I then turned back to see her lay down the miraculously still sleeping baby then turn around and face me.

"What are you waiting for… an engraved invitation, lie down on the table and let me look at you," I said, laying down the healing device on the tray next to the table as the girl nervous sat on the table then lay down.

"You know, I never asked your name?" I wondered aloud as I activated the scanner.

"Miranda," she replied, her face twitching slightly from the faint unfamiliar feeling caused by the scanner, "Miranda Lawson, my sister's name is Oriana."

"Miranda," I said, seeing how it rolled off my tongue, "it's a beautiful name, it suits a beautiful young woman like you," I said, smiling as Miranda blushed, "it seems it's also lucky, there's two bullet tracks, both punched right through, but neither hit anything important. Give me a few minutes and you'll be right as rain," I placed the scanner in the tray and I then tore her shirt so I had free access along her right side then picked up healing device.

Miranda flinched when I tore her shirt but didn't run, then watched in fascination as held the device over her side and activated it, gasping as the strange feeling washed over her side and again as her flesh started to knit back together.

I kept the device on for a couple of minutes after the wounds closed just to be sure then turned off the device. I then picked up the scanner to make sure I hadn't missed anything.

"Everything seems fine," I stated after checking the readings carefully, "but it's probably best to see a proper doctor, I'm pretty well versed with this tech but I'm not a medical professional."

"Thank you," Miranda said gratefully after a moment, sitting upright, "that feels so much better."

"All part of the service," I smiled, "have you decided what to do?"

"I was going to go to a group called Cerberus that my father supported, they have the resources to protect Oriana," Miranda admitted, "but now I'm not so sure."

"Well, I'm overdue with checking in with my CO," I stated, "I've been MIA for several months, the part of the Galaxy I'm from is well beyond the Relay network so, if push comes to shove, it might be best to have my CO arrange something, it's happened before, though Cassie is several years older."

Miranda looked at me, both uncertainty and hope shining in her eyes, "it won't hurt to try," I insisted.

"Okay," she said, "can you contact them?"

"Not yet," I admitted sheepishly, "as I said, they're over half a Galaxy away beyond the Relay network, an accident caused by weapons fire stranded me in non-Mass Effect FTL for several months, but we have a way to reach other planets without ships, the device works like Secondary Relays but the devices are on planets, if we can find one, I can dial home and ask."

Miranda gave me a humourless look, thinking I was lying but quickly realised I was being sincere, "do you know where one is?" she sighed.

"No, but this ship's scanners are programmed to recognise it's elemental signature or one activating, shouldn't be too hard to find one," I replied honestly, just then Oriana woke up.

"You get her settled, the galley's two doors along on the left, though you're probably stuffed for nappies," I said, heading for the cockpit, "washrooms third door on the right, I'm going to prep for take-off then start scouting the nearest systems."

* * *

"…UNSCHEDULED OFF-WORLD ACTIVATION…"

Hammond hurried down the stairs from his office and the Briefing Room and walked over next to Sergeant Harriman, "Any IDC?"

"Gate hasn't locked yet, Sir," Harriman answered, "CHEVRON SIX, ENCODED!"

"Close the Iris," Hammond ordered.

"CHEVRON SEVEN, LOCKED!" the Wormhole formed with the familiar KAWHOOSH, then was blocked from view as the Titanium-Naquadah Iris closed and locked into place.

"General," Jack O'Neill greeted as SG-1 filed into the room.

"Colonel," Hammond returned, "Any IDC?"

"No Si… Wait, IDC and radio signal coming through," Harriman said.

"Who is it, son," Hammond asked.

"SG-1's IDC," Harriman stated.

"That's Impossible," Hammond exclaimed, looking round at the team in question.

"Evidently not, General Hammond," Teal'c stated.

Jack just stared speculatively at the stargate, "yeah, maybe not," he then looked at Harriman, "Can you put that Radio signal on the speakers.

Harriman switched the settings for the transceiver.

"…_EAT, STARGATE COMMAND, THIS IS LIEUTENANT ANTONINE EMRYS OF SG-1, PLEASE RESPOND… SERIOUSLY, SOMEONE PICK UP THE PHONE OR I'LL REVERSE THE CHARGES…"_

Jack scrambled for the microphone, "Lieutenant Emrys, this is Colonel O'Neill, it's damn good to hear your voice."

"_FEELINGS MUTUAL, SIR, GOT PRETTY LONELY ON THAT AL'KESH… SIR, REQUEST MEDICAL TEAM TO COME THROUGH THE GATE!"_

"Are you injured?"

"_NOT ME SIR, BUT WE HAVE AN INFANT WHO NEEDS A CHECK OVER… AND IDEALLY A NEW HOME, HER FATHER COULD HAVE GIVEN NIRRTI POINTERS."_

"Emrys, what have you gotten into," Jack muttered, "Stand By!"

Jack looked over his shoulder at Hammond, "General?"


	3. Home Sweet Bunker

**AN: I just want to address a few points**

**The Systems Alliance is based on Erthe, a former slave world abandoned by the Goa'uld after accessible Naquadah deposits ran out, they then advanced independently like the Tollan and Hebridans.**

**I didn't intentionally ignore the Zat retcon, I only have the first and second series of SG-1 and have only seen a handful of episodes from later series so I was unaware there was a retcon in the first place.**

**The Goa'uld did discover the Relays, but most of their technology was already superior and this was millennia before the Asari discovered eezo, this combined with certain geographical problems meant they abandoned the area entirely long before the Asari started activating Relays.**

**The Relay Network doesn't cover the whole Galaxy due to a combination of Relays being destroyed, lost, Reapers removing them during previous cycles and the limitations of Mass Effect FTL. The Reapers aren't yet aware of the Ancients automated Seed Ships, so in turn are unaware of the Stargates.**

**The Reapers are also unaware of any activity in other Galaxies, I haven't fully decided what role Pegasus and Ida shall play yet, but the Asurans **_**Will**_** be making an appearance.**

* * *

Chapter 2: Home Sweet Bunker

"Well, Lieutenant, what have you got for us?" Hammond asked once everyone was seated.

"To start with, an eleven digit bank account thanks to Apophis keeping over five tons of bullion on his private yacht," Emrys started, using the distraction from the comment to organise his files, he really needed to thank Miranda later for her help, "yes, I cashed it all in, figured I'd need the cash as I was stranded nearly five thousand light years from home."

A large, three dimensional hologram of the galactic map appeared over the table with roughly a little under a third outlined by a white line forming a sort of ring shape around the core with the lower half being relatively uniform in thickness but the upper half being distorted to the galactic north but not coming close to reaching any edge of the galaxy, "Now, the Goa'uld don't seem to have any significant presence in the area in fact it's pretty much abandoned, other than Erthe showing signs of having once been a Goa'uld slave world. The main reason for this seems to be a large 'Forbidden Zone' to the 'left' side of the galactic core, the other reason is a large nebula on the other side of the Galaxy that disrupts Goa'uld sensors, they simply can't navigate it and it really isn't economical to go around it. It also seems the snakes learned from us, virtually no Goa'uld tech was left behind when they abandoned Erthe," Emrys explained.

A little under half the outlined portion of the map map turned blue, "This is the known, civilised galaxy to the people living there," about seven twelfths turned red, "these are the Terminus Systems, largely charted but more or less lawless space," a large number of dots glowed brightly with two dozen long whitish red lines between them with most dots clustered around the ends of the lines, "the dots represent inhabited planets, the lines represent shipping lanes, specifically the Relay routes, I'll explain the Relays and their significance in a moment. Formal colonies exist but they are independent of the major civilised power of the region and virtually on their own against the slavers, pirates and mercenaries that call the Terminus home. There are two ways in and out of the Terminus," two dots shone, one on each 'side' of the Galactic Core, "The first is Illium," the dot on the 'left' side of the core expanded into an Earth-like planet, "settled by the oldest space faring race in the area, the Asari, Illium is essentially a massive trade market with slightly relaxed laws to profit from the traffic bottleneck between the Terminus Systems and Citadel space," the globe of Illium faded and was replaced by the second dot, on the 'right' side of the galactic core expanding into a large half-asteroid with hundreds of spires rising out of the underside.

Emrys lent back in his seat, "This is Omega, it's literally a Dark Mirror of Illium, a mixture of gangs, merc outfits, pirates, slavers, smugglers and the bums of half the galaxy call it home."

The image faded and was replaced by an alien that resembled a purple skinned human woman with no ears and some kind of tentacles instead of hair, "This is Aria T'Loak, the Warlord who holds Court on Omega, ruthless as they come, but mostly even handed, she's actually pretty benevolent by the standards of the Terminus Warlords. On Omega, a fly can't land on shit without her people knowing, and will be shot for it if they don't have permission to do so. Only _One_ Law on Omega, _Don't Fuck With Aria!"_

The image faded and it, and the galactic map, was replaced by an image of a structure resembling a tuning fork, "This is a Mass Relay, every species in this part of the Galaxy bases their Technology off these stations. They're essentially interstellar coil guns that fling ships dozens to even thousands of Light Years in a matter of seconds, the main issue is that they're point to point, just like Stargates, the difference is that some, Primarys, operate in pairs, the rest, Secondarys, are omni-directional, sending a ship to any other Relay in range. Supposedly they were the greatest creations of the preceding Great Race, the Protheans, but the aesthetics don't match known Prothean architecture or technology, or the operational principles of what functioning tech remains."

Daniel hummed thoughtfully, looking rather suspicious, "if I were a cynical man, I'd think these Relays were left behind to… prod… younger races into evolving along certain technological paths."

Jack cocked his head, frowning, "yeah, it does, doesn't it?"

"Indeed," Teal'c agreed in his deep voice.

"The Protheans lived around fifty thousand years ago, there's also significant evidence of a similarly dominant race called the Insuannon that lived one hundred and twenty seven thousand years ago, they seem to have gone the same way as the Protheans," Emrys concluded, finishing this part of the briefing.

"So we've got two advanced civilisations evolving around the Relays, which are then mysteriously thrown done at their peak but the Relays remain?" Sam Carter said analytically, "Yeah, that smells like a trap."

"Yes, but who set it?"

"No bloody clue…"

"People," Hammond stated firmly, "I appreciate the input, but for the immediate future we must deal with _Facts_ not _Speculation_," he then looked at Emrys, "What do we know about the Species in the Civilised part of this region?"

"Just getting to that," Emrys commented, the blue portion expanded to nearly fill the whole projection, roughly bisecting the Galaxy between Illium and Omega, dozens of lines and over a hundred dots appeared in an intricate web spanning the region.

"This region, with three exceptions, is referred to as Citadel Space, so called because of the Space Station called the Citadel," Emrys began.

One of the dots at a point where seven lines met expanded to project an image of a massive space station, an image of Manhattan Island was next to it and the station was about three times longer, it was made of five arms attached to a ring base that rotated like an O'Neil cylinder.

"It's the largest known space station and a major trade and traffic hub, in fact it's the Relay Network equivalent to Clapham Junction," Emrys pointed out, "the arms are called Wards and the ring joining them is the Presidium, the Tower connected to the Presidium is the Council Tower where the Citadel Council meets."

"The Citadel Council is the Super Power that controls the region, the Law is stacked to favour Council Members and keep Associate Members dependent on the Council Economically and Militarily and literally no one has had the balls to tell them to stuff it.

The Council Members consist of Three Races, yes, just Three:"

An image of a blue skinned woman without eyebrows and some kind of sculpted tentacles for hair overlaid the map.

"The First are the Asari, the oldest space faring Relay race, they're mono-gendered, live for roughly a millennium, are natural Biotics, and no I'm not explaining what that means as _I_ need that lecture too, they were the first of the current Relay races to find the Citadel, holding it as their proudest seat of power for about a thousand years which is when the Salarians showed up, and after brief negotiations, the Council was founded. Asari space is divided into numerous Republics, many being single worlds, as they didn't reach the concept of World Government until they invented the internet they tend not to think in terms of countries and philosophical borders like everyone else, but rather in terms of the e_ntire_ community. Their Government Structure is also very unique, other than the Council Representative there are No Politicians or elections, etc. Instead there's a freewheeling, all-inclusive legislature that any citizen can take part in at any time.

In modern times, they typically form the Diplomatic arm of the Council, though given the fact any Asari joining the Military dedicates three or four decades in martial training the Commandoes are a force to be reckoned with

The Second race are the Salarians," the Asari picture was replaced by an alien whose face resembled a frog with horns.

"They are warm-blooded amphibians with a hyperactive metabolism; they think fast, talk fast, move fast, however that metabolism means a salarian rarely ages beyond forty. Their government is the Salarian Union, it functions like the noble families from medieval Europe. Militarily, however, is where the Salarians are different and deadly, they believe a War should be won before it starts, consequently their Intelligence Service, the Special Tasks Group, are frankly without peer, there's a common saying in Citadel Space, _'STG Operatives know nearly everything,'_ and it's not far from the truth, in every war they've fought, they've struck first.

If Asari are the Diplomats, Salarians are Scientists and Intelligence Operatives.

The Third and Last race are the Turians, they are a Militaristic and Disciplined culture, they were the last to gain a Council seat by defeating the Krogan fourteen hundred years ago in the Krogan Rebellions, ever since the Turians have filled the peacekeeping niche left behind by the defeated Krogan.

They are the largest power militarily and make up the bulk of Citadel Space's military and law enforcement, well known for the strong public service ethic in their culture but are often regarded as rigid and Imperialistic. They've assimilated a number of client races over the years, the most prominent being the Volus who are also an associate member of the Council who did so voluntarily, the rest were primitive races just starting out who were conquered."

Daniel and Jack growled, Sam scowled and Teal'c and Hammond both gave the Turian image an unpleasant look.

"The Turian government is called the Hierarchy, it's a Hierarchal Meritocracy, while it has great potential for misuse, this is tempered by the civic duty and personal responsibility turians learn during their childhood," Emrys concluded.

"The remaining races, including Erthe Humans, are associate races and have virtually no power with the Council, having to depend on the goodwill of the 'Big Three' a lot of the time," Emrys said.

"So a benevolent Goa'uld coalition," Jack snarked, after a moment.

"My first impression," Emrys admitted, "I've downloaded the Codex entries onto these PADDs for you all to browse at your own leisure."

Everyone took the offered PADDs, Hammond receiving the most as he would need the most detailed information, Sam's was on aspects of common technologies, Daniel's was on the various cultures of the Relay races, with Teal'c and Jack receiving info on common Military strategies, both Land and space based.

"What is your opinion on establishing First Contact with these people?" Hammond asked after a moment.

"Don't," Emrys stated bluntly, "the Council jumps on almost every new scientific or technological discovery, pressuring associate races to share new tech with threats of sanctions or force and seizes nearly every new deposit of vital resources in the name of the Greater Good. If we make contact, they'll demand we join their community, surrender any and all advanced technologies and let the Hierarchy loose on us if we refused. We'd lose the Stargate, our independence, actually they'd probably tell the Alliance they could basically claim us as the Alliance is the dominant Human power, and quite likely our cultural identity."

"What of their technology?" Sam asked, "I mean, some of this even the Goa'uld haven't come up with?"

"Their technology is entirely based on a substance they call Element Zero or Eezo," Emrys said, "it provides great short term benefits, the Alliance has risen to a comparable level with other Citadel races in under thirty years since they discovered Eezo, but the rest haven't really gone further in the centuries or millennia since they discovered Eezo.

Militarily, their Mass Accelerator weapons would be nice and the ability to turn a ship on a dime by cutting the mass down is a definite advantage, but the fact remains that there are too many weaknesses for us to justify more than a limited use. Take their FTL for instance? If I'd tried the trip I endured on a Citadel ship I'd have been cooked alive after three or four days by the static charge that builds up."

Everyone but Teal'c visibly winced, Teal'c closing his eyes in a way that conveyed the same emotion, "so, basically, everyone is off the table…"

Emrys looked thoughtfully at the projection, "maybe not," the image shifted back to Omega with the purple skinned Asari next to it, both rotating, "We should approach Aria."

"ARE YOU INSANE!"

"No Jack, I'm not," Emrys replied flatly, "Look at it like this, Aria's the most powerful Warlord in the Terminus, though her actual territory is pretty small, she holds one of the only ways in or out of the Terminus so, half the traffic in the Terminus goes through there, she's very well connected as very little happens in the Terminus or Citadel space that she won't know about or who to go to to find out, she's like a very strict Tok'ra in comparison to the other Warlords and she keeps the other Warlords in line, either they pay due respect and tithes or they lose most of their trade. If Aria ever loses Omega, the whole of Relay space is screwed. Besides, if we can cut a deal, she'll probably let us rent dry docks and fabricator workshops, not to mention we could probably get a good deal on Naquadah and Trinium, for the Relay races their waste products and not used. General, we need a space born presence and this might be the only way to get it anytime soon."

Hammond mulled it over for a moment, "I'll speak to the President, you are correct in that we need ships to defend ourselves now, and if the only way we'll get any soon is to work with her…"

* * *

"SG-1, Dismissed," everyone stepped up or leant back from the table as Hammond rose and went into his office.

"Sam," Carter looked over to me, just in time to catch a thick bundle of parchment, "An operations manual for an Al'kesh including structural and systems specifications and the specs for the console I rebuilt," I then held out another set of four PADDs, "specs on commercially available Erthe shuttles, an in depth study on Hyperdrive physics, the specs for that power generator I was working on before my Ice Nap and the specs for an old Lantean Battleship I reworked in case I get the go ahead from Hammond, I'd appreciate if you could give them all a look and tell me what you think."

For a moment, Sam's eyes shone like I'd presented her with the Holy Grail (in a sense I had, as Zero Point Energy was somewhat the Holy Grail of power generation and even with my Ancestors inventing the ZPM, or Potentia, they hadn't truly harnessed it), then took the PADDs from me, thanked me, then ran off towards her lab.

"If you don't show up at lunch, I'll get Jack and Teal'c to help drag you out!" I shouted at her retreating back, Daniel shot me an amused smile as he looked up from the PADD I'd given him, Teal'c just raised an eyebrow but Jack looked to the Heavens for help and got none.

"So how've things been?" I asked, sitting back down and putting my feet up, a habit I picked up from Jack who did the same.

"Well, we met the Asgard last week," Jack mentioned.

"How are they?" I kept my tone neutral, I hadn't held much hope since I learned how much the Nox had changed, abandoning their duties in favour of isolationism.

"Surprisingly good, the Gould fear them, Thor seemed surprised and happy to learn that we had an Ancient helping us," Jack continued, "though they're somewhat shorter and skinnier than you described."

"Indeed," Teal'c agreed.

"What?" I couldn't believe what I was hearing, "but the only way for their bodies to degrade like that…" I put my head in my hands and started to cry, _'those naïve little idiots'._

"Emrys?" Jack asked cautiously.

"Cloning," I said thickly, "those little idiots turned to cloning. What happens when you copy a photocopy then keep copying each successive copy."

"The image or writing degr… Ohhh!" Daniel said after a moment, his eyes widening in realisation.

"They're dying," I said, lifting my head up, "The last friends of my people, perhaps my kind's last hope and they're killing themselves."

"Hey, it'll work out, between you, Sam, Janet and the Asgard we'll figure something out," Jack said reassuringly.

"Thanks," I said, wiping my eyes, "Hey, do you know what happened to Miranda?"

"Janet kept her in after finding something odd with those new medical scanners," Daniel said.

"Is she ok?" I asked, I had to admit, I'd grown rather attached to the bright teen in the short time I'd known her, a few times when we'd been in Hyperspace I'd just gone to sit with her as she looked after Oriana, I'd also taken to chaperoning her around the base.

"Janet just wanted to take another look, I'm sure it's nothing," Daniel assured me.

"Speaking of which," Jack interrupted, "what's going on with you and her?"

That question threw me for a loop, "what are you on about?"

"Well, just that… you two seem to be getting pretty cosy," Jack said.

"There's nothing going on, what gave you that idea?" I said back, _'Not that I wouldn't mind something going on between us'._

"Well, the fact you go out of your way to spend time with her," Jack started, counting off on his fingers, "going so far as to make any excuse to do so, you insist on accompanying her everywhere, the way you two hold hands when you think no one's looking…"

I blinked in surprise and wracked my mind for what he meant, then I realised that we _did_ often hold hands when no one was around, with Miranda usually initiating, now I thought about it her hands were silky soft…

My blush as I remembered made Jack hoot in triumph.

"See! …now, where was I, oh yes. You both make eyes at each other, including across the mess for the past three days straight, you undress each other with your eyes when you think the other isn't looking…"

"Oh come on, Jack!" I exclaimed, "I'm a twenty year old male, who spent ten thousand years in an ice box, I'm entitled to a few pervy thoughts, especially when I personally know one of the most beautiful and sexiest girls alive… if perving over an attractive friend was a crime, you'd have been court martialled and shot for making eyes at Sam months ago!"

Daniel burst into shameless laughter and Teal'c gave a small, amused smile as Jack went red and stuttered a denial.

"And another thing," Jack said after pulling himself together, "she's seventeen…"

"Eighteen in two days," I pointed out.

"Nearly eighteen," Jack conceded, "and you… are Ancient."

"Are you saying I'm not allowed to see her because I'm Lantean?" I keep my voice steady but both Teal'c and Daniel get up and slowly walk behind us.

"No, I'm saying she's too young," Jack corrected.

"I might have spent ten thousand years in an ice box, _Sir_, but physically and mentally I am still twenty," the room definitely got colder, "and by this country's Laws, in two days it will not be any of your business whether any romantic relations occur between myself and Miss Lawson as it shall be between two consenting Adults, good day, Sir."

I got up and walked out, ignoring Jack trying to call me back.

I wasn't really paying attention to where I was going, I just wanted to get away from Jack, not responding to several people greeting me, I didn't pay attention until someone put a hand on my shoulder and stopped me.

"Are you Ok?" Sam asked me, looking over me in concern.

"I will be, Jack dropped the bombshell about the Asgard then went outta line," I admitted.

"I'll kick his ass," Sam muttered, looking around for the offending idiot.

"Forget it, he's just being... well, Jack," I said.

"I've been looking for you," Sam continued, "Hammond asked if we could come up with a ship design and I thought of modifying your existing schematic, some features just aren't workable right now."

"Yeah, I figured that and made a few changes on my schematic," I said.

"I know but it might not be enough right now," Sam added, "and Janet was looking for you, Miranda's awake and asking for you."

My head snapped up, "Awake! What do you mean?"

"I thought Daniel told you," Sam commented, "Janet found six foreign objects in Miranda's body and immediately operated to remove them."

"Daniel said Janet was checking the scans," I said quietly, a harsh ache now surging in my chest.

"He probably didn't want to worry you," Sam rationalised, but the glare down the corridor said two people were now on her shit list, "you should head to the Infirmary."

"Yeah," I said, my head feeling light as the ache got stronger, "thanks."

Sam gave me a smile as I headed for the stairs, it felt like I was wearing blinkers as I seemed to be only aware of what was directly in front of me.

I hesitated as I reached the door to the Infirmary, I drew a deep breath then walked to the door, knocking on the open door.

"Doctor?" Janet Frasier walked out of the patients ward.

"Anthony, good Miss Lawson's been asking to see you," Janet said, walking over to me.

"How bad?" I dread the answer but need to know.

"One was her Biotic Amp," Janet began, "I didn't know what it was so I didn't know to ignore it. The next two were in her ovaries, both containing a small quantity of a fluid that would have damaged her eggs making it impossible for her to conceive…"

I have to step back and hold myself up with the wall, that… that's just evil.

"The last three appear to be designed to affect her behaviour," Janet finished, "make her more agreeable, to what or who I don't know but everything but her amp has been there less than a year."

"Will she be ok?"

"She'll need a few days to rest, but she'll make a full recovery in about three months," Janet said, "you can go in, she wants to see you."

"What about Oriana?"

"She's a perfectly healthy eight month old baby girl, now go on," Janet said smiling.

I nodded and walked over to the door and entered the ward.

Miranda was the only patient, propped up by her pillows in a bed halfway down the ward.

She looked so small… fragile… vulnerable. Her pale skin seemed to shine under the lights, contrasted beautifully by her long hair spread out on the pillow, framing her head like a halo. She held a small book in her lap that she was reading.

"Miranda?"

The brunette looked up, smiling as she saw me, "Anthony."

I walked over and sat down next to her bed, "how are you feeling?"

"Sore," she said, gingerly shifting so she could face me.

"I gathered that," I said, smiling gently, "I meant… I meant about the implants…"

Pain, that was what I saw in her eyes as she looked away. "I had no idea… I never thought…"

"Hey," I said softly, leaning over and gently wrapping my arms around her, she leant into me and started to cry into my chest, "its ok, they're gone now… you're safe."

"B-but… how c-c-could he?" she sobbed, "he's m-m-my father! …h-how could he?"

"You know he wanted a Dynasty," I pointed out gently, "he probably decided to use them after Oriana was conceived."

"Oriana!" I actually had to restrain Miranda as she frantically tried to jump out of bed.

"Miranda!" I exclaimed, "the implants were less than a year old bar the Amp, even if Janet hadn't cleared her, Oriana's too young!"

Miranda calmed down after processing what I said, "she's ok?"

"According to Janet she's fine," I repeated, brushing a lock of wavy hair out of her face, I frowned as I noticed her wince, "are you in pain?"

Miranda wouldn't look at me, but nodded a little, "some, it's bearable," I struggled with my conscience for a minute, I _could_ make it stop, but that meant giving away what I really was.

I made up my mind, "Lie back," Miranda looked at me in confusion, but complied.

I kneeled beside her bed, lifted her shirt to expose her stomach, she watched as I laid my hand on her stomach, I then closed my eyes and focused on drawing a power within that had lain dormant for ten millennia.

A soft gasp told me I'd succeeded, followed by the truly odd sensation of conscious feeling leaving my body, travelling down my arm and into another body. I stretched my consciousness and sought out the tiny incisions and other things that were troubling Miranda, I took care to avoid the eezo nodules and the area around her amp, taking a lot of effort to do so, then I started to pull back when felt I was done.

I opened my eyes to see Miranda smiling gratefully.

"Thank you," she whispered, "that feels so much better… but how?"

"I told you, I'm Lantean," I explained, smiling indulgently, "you never asked whether there is a difference between Lanteans and Humans. There is, a Human is essentially a lesser evolved Lantean, a Second Evolution if you will. Lantean physiology evolved to the point where children were born capable of telepathy, empathy, telekinesis and touch healing, I'm an empath and touch healer, but I never finished training for the latter due to the War…"

I winced as the mere mention brought back flashes of painful memories I thought belonged to a past life, I also couldn't stop the tear that ran down my cheek as I thought of my long gone friends and family.

"Anthony?" Miranda looked at me, worry clear on her beautiful face, "are you alright?"

Somehow I kept my voice steady, "no… but I will be… hopefully."

"Did something happen?" she pressed, "this… _War_?"

"It outlived the Death of my Race," I admitted, earning a gasp from Miranda, I laid my hand over hers as she put it on my arm comfortingly, actually opening up to her about this was actually soothing to my battered soul, "and I pray to whatever Power is listening that my People's Enemy never finds their way to this Galaxy, neither Gould nor Batarians compare to those fiends."

Miranda looked like she wanted to say something but was interrupted by Janet.

"I'm sorry, but you've been here over an hour, my patient needs rest," Janet said.

I reluctantly nodded and gave Miranda's hand a squeeze, to my surprise she leant up and kissed me on my cheek, I smiled at her, "Thanks," I said softly, trying to ignore Janet's grin at my blush, I stopped at the door, looked back and smiled at Miranda, "sleep well," I then walked out and began the trek back to my room, before realising Sam needed to look over that ship schematic and heading for her lab.

* * *

"Lieutenant, Miss Lawson, thank you for coming," Hammond said as we sat down at the Briefing Room table.

"How can we help, Sir/General?" Miranda and I replied together.

"Yesterday, the President briefed some of our Allies on the Stargate Program," Hammond began, "he saw the danger Kinsey had put us in and realises that the Program is our best chance at developing an effective Short and Long term defence. Consequently he requested men, material and finances in exchange for the Program becoming an International Command."

"Can't imagine they were too happy," I commented.

Hammond shook his head, "no, they weren't, especially when they realised that the US had started an Interstellar War in Earth's name without so much as a 'by-your-leave'. However, they fell into line once we presented the evidence of how badly outgunned and close we came to failure, and by extension the conquest of Earth. The decision has been made to construct a Forward Operating Base on an unclaimed world that we can develop into an off-world industrial centre and to develop a space based Defence Force. Now, that Al'kesh you brought back has given us one hell of a jump start and we already have a prototype in the final design stages, add the Hat'tak you found on Mars and it's payload, then we're pretty set in the long term. However, we need a presence in the Galaxy now."

"And that's where we come in," Miranda stated regally.

"Correct," Hammond nodded, "The Allied Chiefs of the Program, appointed this morning, have decided to send the pair of you back to Relay space to facilitate the construction and deployment of a large, _a__rmed_ Transport vessel that will act as both our eyes and ears in Relay space but also facilitate the movement of the technology and machine tools needed to get our off-world base operational."

"Count me in," I said, I'd actually been planning for such an op and had been intending to speak to Hammond about it.

"Me too," Miranda agreed, glancing at me."

"Think I should invest some of my bank account in Citadel Companies or found one as a front?" I asked, "I mean, Sam's first gen fusion reactors are actually more powerful than most Citadel reactors in the same size range, and that's without Naquadah, not as efficient granted, but more powerful."

"Invest for now, but I'll pass the suggestion up the chain," Hammond answered, "This is the schematic the Allied Chiefs decided on," he slid a PADD across the table.

I picked it up and glanced at it, my eyes widening as I did.

"Since you have Experience Commanding a Starship, the Chiefs have decided to have you Captain this vessel once built," Hammond explained.

"Sir, I've never _Commanded_ a ship," I protested, "I _flew_ the Al'kesh…"

"I was referring to the _Defiant_, Son," Hammond interrupted.

"Sir," I replied softly, ducking my head, I barely responded as Miranda gently held my hand, "I assume that's why they chose this hull?"

"You assume correctly," Hammond confirmed.

"How shall we play this?" I asked, curious as to the plan, "there's only one place I can think of where we'd be able to build such a ship unmolested by the Citadel Powers."

"You're right," Hammond agreed, "and that's exactly where you'll be going. The majority of the crew will be made of volunteers between us, the Tok'ra and Bra'tac's students but you'll need to do some recruiting locally, especially near launch, my advice is to get as many different races as possible aboard, preferably individuals who have become disillusioned with the Citadel Council."

"When do we leave?"

* * *

The music was pounding nicely, a glance around told her it was business as usual… no, it wasn't. Two dark clad figures were being led to her by Praetor Gavorn…

A noise to her right showed a large, expensive set of Turian Infantry armour being propped against the back wall, her attention was drawn again by Gavorn presenting the two figures.

The first was male, about six feet tall by Alliance reckoning, wearing a long black duster over a strange armour that looked like it was a modern take on splintmail where it wasn't covered in plates.

The second was a female human, dressed in a figure hugging catsuit that looked decently armoured and high heeled knee high boots that pushed her height to about five foot ten.

Both had two pistols, one that resembled a Carnifex and another serpentine one, and the male was holding a strange staff.

"Aria T'loak?"

"I am," she replied, "now, who are you and why are you in My Club!"

"To make you an offer you're not foolish enough to refuse."


	4. Deal with a She-Devil

Chapter 3: Deal with a She-Devil

_Omega, 'Grand Hall' Dry Dock – 22__nd__ May, 2175 CE/1998 AD_

'_How did we come to this?'_

_That was the question that troubled the Pirate Queen of Omega, the great ship below her would transform the known Galaxy just as dramatically and forcefully as the Tau'ri had changed Omega. Just a week ago, a Hierarchy funded Merc fleet, the Sons of Menai, had been repelled by the new defences of Omega, development of which was begun by the grace of the Tau'ri._

_She smiled to herself as she thought of exactly how little the Tau'ri thought of this fact, that without their generous, very generous in hindsight, gift her Kingdom would have been toppled by a Council Puppet… and yet they wilfully declined any form of reward, stating that they were aiding an Ally, a _Valued_ Ally._

_If they kept this up, she'd openly admit to liking them._

_Even now the STG and Spectres were snooping around, trying to discover the secrets to Omega's new and Impenetrable defences, so far her people had leaked false intelligence that disguised the new guns as being derived from a Turian weapons project, the Thanix Magnetic-Hydrodynamic weapons system._

_Not exactly true, but both weapons functioned identically, just using different ammunition, Plasma versus a Ferric-Tungsten-Uranium alloy and the pulsed weapons being slightly more complex._

_The energy shields were, truthfully, passed off as having been reverse engineered from a wreck. _

_The great ship below was longer then the Destiny Ascension, the Council Flagship, it was sure to capture everyone's attention when it landed on Essan in order to register._

_She ran her eyes over the ship's lines again, drinking in every little detail, this Leviathan was the product of two years co-operation between her and the Tau'ri, in fact its construction was the only solid Term in the original Treaty besides them upgrading Omega's defences. Though their request to purchase two worthless waste materials in bulk had seemed odd at the time, she had laughed later once she learned they were building the ship from those same materials after smelting and refining them, the Treaty had fixed the prices meaning they received massive amounts of the valuable materials for a fraction of their real value once their true worth was revealed, they'd played her quite well._

_That same material had proven vital to upgrading Omega's power grid and reactors, an unexpected benefit was that for the first time in living memory Omega's streets were bathed in light while long disused air and water purification plants shuddered and screeched into life as long dead sections of the power grid surged with excess energy._

_Her eyes traced the half dome of the bridge, taking in the curious layout of several large crescent shaped consoles arranged in small tiers so their operators either faced into the centre of the bridge or the front windows with a smaller, central console where the Captain sat, the XO being seated in the crescent below and in front of him, she could also make out both the massive hologram that showed the status of the ship's hull and systems in the back and the dedication plaque proudly displaying the ship's name._

_Lanteas Oriens_

_An odd name, but strangely fitting for this massive vessel._

_If someone had told her she'd be here two years ago, she'd have had them thrown out an airlock_

* * *

Afterlife Club, Omega – 2173

_"Aria T'loak?"_

_"I am," she replied, "now, who are you and why are you in My Club!"_

_"To make you an offer you're not foolish enough to refuse."_

Aria cocked an eyebrow but was inwardly unimpressed, though the matter of fact way he made the statement piqued her curiosity, "indeed."

The two sat down as she gestured lazily to the opposite couch, the woman sitting back regally, bringing her left leg up to rest the calf on her right knee and the male sitting straight, still holding his strange staff.

"And what would this… _offer_ pertain?" Aria asked disinterestedly.

"It's not a secret that half the Terminus covets your Throne," the male stated bluntly, "if say… the Blue Suns, Eclipse and Blood Pack united, they'd have the manpower and the firepower to take Omega from you. And that's not counting any of your Terminus contemparies."

Aria frowned lightly, he did have a point, "and I _suppose_ you can help prevent such an event?"

"In a manner," he stated, "you control certain resources my organisation requires access to, in exchange we are prepared to help stack the deck in your favour."

Aria watched as he stood up, "may I demonstrate?" at her nod, he waved the guards to one side and raised the staff onto his shoulder, not unlike some older types of Alliance rocket launchers.

The top of the staff split in four and pulled back with a loud snap, a crackle of yellow energy clearly visible arcing along a short tubular barrel immediately after. A bolt of yellow energy the size of a Quarian's fist shot out the barrel with a strange whoosh/whoop noise and struck the Turian armour in a flash and cloud of steam. A second later the horrific smell of melted ceramics and synthetic textiles assaulted her nose and the steam cleared to reveal a teardrop shaped deformation with a hole in its centre as wide as two of her fingers, even as she watched the material warped and molten drips trailed down toward the crotch. A glance showed the guards looking rather panicked; a flash message from Grizz told her the kinetic barriers hadn't registered the shot.

She looked up to the male, who was now holding the staff once more like an ornate staff, "Well you had my _curiosity_," she said, then gestured once more to the seat beside the female, adjusting her own posture at the same time, "now you have my _attention_."

The male leant back but kept an alert posture, it was the woman who spoke, "we are looking to make a deal for certain resources available from Omega, certain manufacturing facilities and a non-aggression agreement, in exchange for us providing upgrades to Omega's defences and power generation."

"And why do you come to me?" Aria asked, at first glance it seemed stacked in their favour but it all depended on what upgrades they offered.

"Because we want to keep a low profile," the male explained, "that means the Terminus, everything we want access to can be found on Omega in close proximity, so even if we just paid for everything we'd still need to deal with you."

The woman picked up from there, "You are a known quantity, we know you are a reasonable business woman, unlike many of your counterparts, we don't need to fear foul play as long as we hold to our end of the deal, credits or otherwise. There is also the fact you keep the worst elements of the Terminus raiders that aren't directly sheltered by the Hegemony under control, if you lose Omega _everyone_ is in trouble, so it is in our interests to see you remain as Omega's ruler."

Aria considered their response, they did have some good points and they had made it clear they wanted a long term deal.

"Very well," Aria said, sending a request to the bar for a bottle of Serrice Ice Brandy, "What is your offer and what would you like in exchange?"

"Our offer is to install new weapons and shields and upgrade the reactors and power grid to support them," the male stated.

"In exchange," the woman picked up, "we would like exclusive use of the grand hall dry dock as we construct a vessel."

"And exclusive access to two ores discarded as waste from the mines," the male added.

That piqued her curiosity, but it was a minor detail, "I take it that the upgraded weapons are similar to your staff?"

The male glanced at the weapon then shook his head, "no, the staffs use a fuel source that we can't produce, we'll be temporarily installing a number of their bigger brothers, Surface to Orbit defence cannon until we and your engineers can design and build a capable native equivalent."

Aria cocked an unamused eyebrow and he elaborated, "there's no point in us providing heavy guns if your people can't maintain them, besides the Council would come down like a steam hammer if they learnt this place was guarded by Advanced alien technology."

Aria nodded in understanding, they'd clearly put a lot of thought into this, "so the guns provided are essentially a token gesture while they're reverse engineered?"

"Basically," the male confirmed, "that way you not only get the weapons but have the infrastructure to maintain or replace them as necessary."

Aria thought it over, that would be beneficial to her organisation, perhaps the risk was worth it.

"Very well," Aria said, "terms?"

The woman held out a PADD, which was taken by Grizz then given to Aria, it was a fairly standard business contract, the prices for the ores were relatively high, an obvious overestimation of their worth and perhaps an effort to sweeten the deal, and as a token gesture she lowered the prices to current market value, access to the dock was exclusive to this group, Tau'ri apparently, odd name, until the ship was finished and her people would ensure security. The non-aggression pact was also standard fair, each side would leave the other alone and would offer assistance to the other if attacked, within reason… good, she didn't feel like having to send her people to die in the middle of nowhere just for the sake of a piece of paper.

On the other hand, the same was true for the Tau'ri, they didn't need to send more than a token force should she need to call in help, they seemed far too noble though.

There were also terms to the cost of renting the infrastructure necessary to construct the ship, conveniently most of the equipment could also be used for the work they'd agreed to do for her.

All in all, nothing that rang alarm bells, she signed it with the provided stylus and handed it back.

"Pleasure doing business," the male said, taking the PADD and slipping into a coat pocket.

"Will there be anything else?" Aria asked politely.

"Well…" the male started, sharing a glance with his companion, "we're looking for potential recruits or allies too, is there anyone on Omega currently unaffiliated you'd recommend?" _'and trustworthy,'_ went unsaid but clearly heard.

Aria frowned, an extremely odd request… but she was the person to ask, no one of note escaped her attention, "well… I suppose it depends on what you're looking for, from a scientific or medical standpoint I'd recommend Mordin Solus, a salarian Doctor who runs a clinic in Gozu District, for technological help there are a few freelance specialists in the markets, Quarians in particular should be helpful. For Military it depends on your school of thought, for conventional line military tactics I'd recommend a Turian or Krogan, in fact Urdnot Wrex is currently here in the club, as an eight hundred year old Battlemaster he definitely has the experience, for infiltration or light infantry I'd recommend either Thane Krios, an assassin but one of the best infiltrators in the galaxy, or either Doctor Solus or Myril Lavirn both former STG. Does that answer your question?"

The male smiled, "perfectly, thank you ma'am. We'll be out of your hair now, time is obviously at a premium for a woman of your importance," the couple rose, both bowed respectfully and left.

Once they were out of earshot, Aria turned to Gavorn, "I want that armour and every piece of data on that weapon examined, I want to know everything there is to know about it."

* * *

"That went well," Miranda shook her head in amusement, Antonine had picked up Jack's capacity for comedic understatement.

"We should see about recruiting a few people after we settle in," she replied, "I think Doctor Solus and Urdnot Wrex would be best."

"I agree," Emrys said, "but first we've got to check in."

* * *

The plume of smoke was instantly swept away by the carefully engineered ventilation system, the cigarette was tapped twice inside the ash tray on the nearby table, them left to settle as the hand pulled back to grasp the glass of twenty year old scotch.

The man's eyes never left the holographic screens forming a wall around him, not even to rest on the magnificence of the dying star the station was built above, the man's brilliant mind was in turmoil that failed to show on his effortlessly calm features, much had gone wrong in the past months.

First the eldest Lawson daughter had escaped without trace, disappearing completely rather than seeking refuge with his Organisation. Second a hum… no, near human had recently come into a windfall of not only significant personal wealth but advanced technology not based on element zero. And Third, Mr Lawson was hounding him to find his missing children.

He sipped the liquor and considered what this could mean, Miranda's recruitment would have offset Henry's withdrawn support but by all accounts she had disappeared until a week after the incident, appearing on Omega and involved in negotiations with the Queen of Omega for a yet unknown third party, Aria's security was proving frustratingly tight on the issue.

Her partner in the negotiations was the near human who'd gained the windfall, who had apparently purchased colony rights to a nearly inaccessible world on the far edge of Alliance space and had arranged for the shipment of enough equipment to start a small shipyard and factory complex as well as enough fixed defences to turn a colony the size of Shanxi into a Fortress. They'd also recruited several individuals of oddly mismatched backgrounds for some reason.

Attempts to spy on the private colony, by both his people and STG had been met by three second and third hand Turian frigates with significant upgrades and unknown technologies, including sensors that weren't fooled by the latest stealth systems, a fact he'd learned when one of his ships was fired on after ignoring several warnings by a battery of Laser cannon well outside normal GARDIAN range, destroying the ship and sending the nearby STG vessel running home, tail between their legs.

The Council had yet to comment, but the Alliance had formally, though quietly, recognised the colony as sovereign independent territory.

Transports observed at the colony had, until recently, also been seen travelling to Omega with unknown cargoes, the transports left Avalon, the colony, by an unknown form of FTL but arrived at Omega by Relay, tracking the craft had proven frustrating.

He briefly considered invading but discarded that, if they could see Stealthed ships then fire on them with Lasers at nearly cruiser range then what else were they capable of, then there were the ground defences. Long distance scans had not only confirmed a shipyard with slipways for ten frigate sized ships and three for cruisers but had also confirmed the beginnings of heavy lines of fortifications around the slipways and factories, one agent had called the deadly intricate spiders web of walls, trenches and turret lines like being out of the First Continental War.

Then there was the issue of Aria, she was apparently coming to be quite close to her new friends, even allowing them to set up a base on Omega that functioned both as an FOB and a pseudo-embassy. There were also unconfirmed reports of new defences on Omega, massive turreted energy cannon and shields capable of taking the fire of such weapons.

Finally there was the question of _who_ this third party was in the first place, so far the few people seen had appeared human but given Miranda's friend that wasn't certain.

No, he needed more information. He couldn't risk pitting Cerberus against a potentially overwhelmingly powerful foe on hearsay and rumour. But where to get that information?

A small window blinked at the corner of the orange screen, he sighed but accepted the call.

"_Illusive Man," _Henry Lawson greeted semi-respectfully, _"have you found my daughter?"_

He considered lying but decided to get it over with, he'd been stalling for months and could no longer see any benefit, "I haven't located Oriana but I know where Miranda is."

The man blinked several times in shock, _"you've found her? Where is she? Have you captured her? Interrogated her?"_

"No," he answered, "In fact, I've given orders for her to be left alone," he raised his hand to stall the industrialist's protests, "Miranda has fallen into line with a mysterious and powerful group, one that seems to operate outside of known space and possesses very advanced technology, they've also gained an ally even I won't risk provoking."

He sipped his drink as he watched Lawson's reaction, the man was clearly confused and trying to join the dots, _"do you know who they are?"_

"No," the Illusive Man admitted, "all I do know is that their most prominent man on the ground is a near human and Miranda seems very taken with him. The only other thing I know for certain is that they have a massive technological advantage, they refitted three second hand Turian frigates with their technology, these frigates then tracked, engaged and destroyed the prototype stealth frigate we built from 'borrowed' Alliance plans."

"Now, I admit there could have been a fault with the ship but given the way one of the frigates stalked a comparable STG craft I doubt it," Lawson now looked worried, but also calculating, the man's obsession with making his mark on History ensured he had quite the grasp on the wider consequences of any significant event.

"_Do you think they're a threat?"_

Now _that_ was the question, wasn't it?

"I do not believe so," Illusive Man replied, "not yet. However, we will need to keep a close eye on them during the coming months and years, just in case."

"_So we wait and see?"_ Lawson questioned, _"but what of my daughter? What of Oriana?"_

Inwardly the Illusive man frowned, "I will use every asset available to find her, but bear in mind that she may already beyond both our reach."

"_I await your next update on the search,"_ Illusive Man actually frowned as the screen cut off.

"He's more trouble than he's worth," Illusive Man inclined his head.

"Still, as… disappointing as the elder daughter's failure to join us is, how do we proceed regarding her new friends?" the former N7 stepped into Illusive Man's field of vision.

"We observe," Illusive Man responded, "Information is my weapon, one we currently don't have. These people have the potential to be the greatest power in Citadel space and, if the DNA trace we got is accurate, perhaps Humanities Greatest Ally."

"Or foe," the agent corrected, "for all we know they're slavers like the Hegemony."

"Possibly, but I doubt that," Illusive Man replied, "call it a gut feeling."

The agent nodded, "shall I head to Teltin?"

"Yes, kindly remind the Team who they work for and the standards I demand," Illusive Man answered coldly, dismissing the agent with a wave of his hand and gazing back to the dying star, lost in thought.

* * *

"I never thought we'd get so much done so fast," I commented, ignoring the glare from three Batarians skulking in a side alley as we passed.

"Neither did I, but once Bra'tac and the Tok'ra got involved it was inevitable things would speed up offworld," Miranda replied, imperiously ignoring the stares and leers sent her way by the locals as she passed, even I'd walked into a door back on Tau'ri when she passed me with that 'Sex on Legs' strut, not helped by her choice of wardrobe at the time, or now, but it did make everyone underestimate her capability.

A little over eight months had passed since the initial meeting with Aria, the guns had started to arrive a few days later with the first ore shipment departing to Avalon the same day. My time since had been equally divided between working with Aria's techs on either the guns, reactors or power grid, managing the smelting and processing of both Naquadah and Trinium shipments then shipping them to Avalon, scouting for specialists and managing the ship construction, I don't know how I would survive without Miranda.

In fact we were on our way to recruit another specialist now.

Omega was usually divided between gangs, the exception being the district Miranda and I had set up shop months before which was under Aria's control, the main players were Blue Suns, Eclipse, Blood Pack and the Tenth Street Reds, the last being an Erthe gang that had made the jump to interstellar gun running, Omega's real estate was directly or indirectly split between these four groups and Aria with only a few neutral or independent spots, the clinic they were visiting was one of them.

The Omega Clinic had been opened several years before by former STG Operative Mordin Solus, providing free and effective medical care for the downtrodden of Omega. The Blue Suns had tried to extort the Clinic for protection money but the thugs had been dealt with rather quickly by Solus, the Blue Suns had prepared to assault the building in retaliation but backed off after treatment was provided to several wounded members regardless of the earlier incident. Following a public endorsement by Aria, the other groups unofficially agreed the Clinic was neutral ground and no hostilities were to kick off within a hundred yards of the place.

With Aria's endorsement the number of trained personnel had tripled, hopefully Mordin would be free to work for them.

The Clinic was guarded by a mix of district volunteers, mechs, and volunteers from the major groups, backed up by several portable MG turrets, the current detail was a mix of locals and mechs with three Blue Suns manning a tripod MG.

"No funny business once you're in the clinic, 'less you want to deal with those mechs," the receptionist warned.

"Charming," I muttered as we walked through the door, the interior was as dark and depressing as the rest of the district, but had the air smelt strongly of disinfectant and several other drugs, a potent cocktail that I knew too well and only found in busy medical stations.

Patients of every species sat back against the walls, some coughing their lungs out or rubbing dressings and bandages.

Pressing on, we heard a rapid voice coming from the back rooms, I looked to Miranda and jerked my head, we headed into one of the back rooms where a salarian Doctor missing a cranial horn was treating an asari.

More importantly a _Matriarch_.

A Matriarch… being treated for _Scale Itch?_

Only varren contracted that particular STD.

"Christ, you just can't make shit like that up," I whisper to Miranda, who's buried her face in my shoulder to hide her giggling.

The Asari gave us an imperious look as she left, the doctor cleaning up his tools as we approached , he looked up as we were six feet away and raised his omni-tool, running a sophisticated medical scan.

"Curious, don't recognise you from area, too well armed to be refugees, no mercenary uniform… unusual genetic code… new species? Curious, what would new race be doing on Omega? Mercenary's? No, no uniform… to heavily armed for civilians... looking for someone… someone important… looking for me?" the Salarian said quickly, moving quickly around the lab until he gave his full attention to the newcomers.

"Ms Lawson and I represent an organisation that's just making its first steps into the region," I began, gesturing to Miranda as I introduced her, "and my superiors wish to employ your services."

"Curious," Mordin mused, "new race recruiting agents from population instead of openly exposing themselves… who sent you?"

"The Galaxy calls us the Tau'ri."


End file.
